Birds, bikes, Biltmore.

After a wave of heat, come days of almost-rain. We pull through those, too, letting the season of dandelions, and cherries, and blooming bulbs, fall by the wayside. Last weekend, Elrin and I went biking for the first time. It was a 3-hour ride down the Creeper Trail, in which we’ve gone about twice as far as we ever have on foot.

Needless to say, it was uphill both ways.

What else is new? Birds continue to come to the feeder, from thrashers to rogue bluejays that eat OtherKitty’s food.



Mr. Barrel and mystery cat #5 appear to be on friendly terms with one another.



Our trip to the Biltmore estate this weekend was another plus. Flowers make me smile, and I must’ve pulled a muscle or three by the end of that particular trip. I also learned that the red almost-pomegranate-like bushes on the sides of the road are flowering quince! (And the holly-like-thing with complex leaves- a leatherleaf mahonia).

Learn something new every day.



The conservatory and greenhouses of the estate are to die-for. As Elrin's got a season pass as well, now, we're planning to go back in May to drool over the above-mentioned (as well as the most awesome grounds and the house itself) sometime in May.